State`s Long-term Debt Triples Under Thompson

January 24, 1986|By Tim Franklin, Chicago Tribune.

SPRINGFIELD — The state`s long-term debt has nearly tripled during Gov. James Thompson`s nine-year stewardship and now stands at more than $6 billion, or $526.06 for every man, woman and child in Illinois, according to statistics released Thursday by the state comptroller.

The state`s general obligation bond debt, including principal and interest, has ballooned from $2.135 billion in fiscal 1976 to a current level of $6.011 billion, Comptroller Roland Burris said in his annual report on Illinois` indebtedness.

Nine years ago, the state`s long-term debt translated to about $187 per capita.

Despite the increases, the state did not top its general obligation bond debt limit, which was set last fiscal year at $6.456 billion, Burris said.

General obligation bonds are repaid over a 25-year period with tax revenues and are backed by the full faith and credit of the state. They are sold to pay for expenses such as mass transit, highway construction and local school facilities.

A year ago, Illinois ranked 24th nationally in net taxpayer-supported debt as a percentage of personal income, according to statistics from Moody`s Investors Service in New York, one of Wall Street`s major bond houses.

Thompson, a Republican, took office in 1977 and is seeking re-election this year. Burris, a Democrat, also is seeking re-election, but he maintained that his report is based on statistics, not politics.

In an interview, Burris said the state`s long-term debt is spiraling at a pace that should arouse ``concern.``

``Certainly there is a point beyond which we should not go,`` Burris said. ``We ought to be very careful as we continue to pile on the general obligation bond indebtedness. . . . When you are tripling your bonded indebtedness over a nine-year period of time, somebody is going to have to pay that off.``

Burris refused to say if the state had overextended its debt.

``That`s for the experts to determine,`` Burris said.

But Thompson`s budget director, Robert Mandeville, denied that the state is becoming burdened with an unwieldy debt.